John

How are there 10 books? For gamers only.

Revisado: 11-13-24

I’ve read some LitRPG, so I am not unfamiliar with the genre. 6 hours in and it is literally like watching someone play a video game. I thought the author was just world building, but realized that this was what the whole book was going to be. Not for me. Books like the Wandering Inn have great characters and a story telling. Not here. Shallow characters and a superficial storyline. I don’t know how there are 10 books. Maybe it gets better but I am not going to keep going.

The writing itself is fine. Same with the narration. The story is rinse and repeat.

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The show and book are completely different stories.

Revisado: 03-27-24

Good book. I like the way Howey writes. The book is a little too introspective of a story for me. Good, but not really what I was hoping for. The characters are good. Pace is OK. Story OK.

The show is completely different. Also worth watching but not as good as the book. The characters aren’t even the same. Maybe the main character is, as they are both ex-military, but their back stories are different, as is how they became beacon keepers. The rest of the characters are completely different with different stories and even different names. The AI in the show isn’t even in the book. Nor are the back stories. Nor is the “artifact.” They stories are just completely different. The only thing that is the same is that they take place around d beacon 23.

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No space opera. AI not the best reader.

Revisado: 03-11-24

This book is just flat. The writing is flat. The story is flat. The AI reader isn’t bad, but seems to miss the proper inflections. Little feeling. Kind of watching a movie on a mono TV instead of full surround THX.

The story premise is weird, not novel. The characters are okay, but the author has to tell you about them instead of developing them through action and dialogue. I only got a couple hours in and had to stop. Maybe I’ll pick it up again someday in the background, but I’ve got too many better books to get too.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Enjoyed the blank slate more, but a top book to understanding how humanity is not and is very special at the same time.

Revisado: 01-05-24

Great read. I was more engaged with his book, The Blank Slate. But still found this book very informative. Just not as polished. I would really have liked Steven to have gone into the specifics of many of the studies he quoted. I felt like he stopped short of truly explaining “how” an experiment or study showed what it did. Hopefully someday he does an update or expanded version of the same subject.

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Meh. Not so engaging.

Revisado: 10-10-23

Not on par with Galaxy’s Edge. The story is bland. The characters are okay, but I just found myself drifting away and I didn’t care to go back and check anything I missed. Quite frankly because I didn’t need too. I could follow along just fine. Another AI discussion. Another battle. Skip to other locations or times. Nothing lost. The end had some nice twists, but they were just for a sense of drama. They really didn’t change anything.

This was the first 3 minutes of a movie where they explain the universe stretched into 14 hours. Hopefully the rest of the series becomes more engaging, but I don’t think I’m going to risk checking it out.

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One of the better Hank stories. QA on the final cut failed.

Revisado: 10-03-23

Good story that continues the second Hank Universe. If you like the others, you’ll like this one. Good story. Some twists. Characters stay true to form.

However, this should never have been released as is. The editing left numerous repeated sentences. .Probably a hundred throughout the book.

At first I thought it was an error in the app, but rewinding to check, showed the same repeats. Then I started to notice that some repeats were different readings. Sometimes it was clear that the narrator used the wrong voice or said the wrong words and read the line again. Sometimes, it was just an inflection change. And sometimes it seemed just a repeat. But it is clear that someone didn’t piece this together right, and left in a lot of the outtakes. Gets pretty annoying after a while. And it is throughout the whole book. The only good news is that they happen immediately and the story continues.

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Non-stop action...really...non-stop.

Revisado: 09-16-23

I only got through about 3+ hours of this book. I gave it a real try.

It is campy, which is fine. The lead character reminds me of Zapp Brannigan from Futurama, except that he is not a baffoon like Zapp. He just carries himself the same. Which is kind of fun and made me laugh out loud sometimes.

My main problem is that there is no story. We go from fight scene to chase scene to fight scene to chase scene and on and on. Only stopping to tell us how awesome the lead character is. Well, I only know that he can fight and be part of fantastic chases. Supposedly he is also a super jack-of-all trades. Incredibly smart and charismatic. But we don't get to learn by observing him, we're just told that. Maybe it changes later if and when a story actually develops. But I just didn't want to keep going to find out.

If non-stop action is your thing, then this is a book for you. It is well written, and the characters are interesting. But I'd rather have a more experiential adventure than a rock em sock em one.

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Good story, good characters, amateurish prose.

Revisado: 09-17-22

I was off and on on this book. The story was engaging to start. Developed ok. And the technology and science was good. However, the author has a somewhat amateurish style with the characters thoughts. He doesn’t seem to trust the reader to understand the emotions and thoughts. So he repeats the thoughts over and over and over. Yes, we get that she doesn’t doesn’t know “what the helm am I doing here). You don’t have to say it 5 or 6 times in two pages. Later in the story, you get why the author seemingly emphasizes what each character is thinking, but it isn’t necessary to drive it in with direct statements. We can follow along just fine. Also, a repetitive confrontation between two of the robots. Gets a little old.

Author has potential. He’s obviously up on science and can write a glowing plot. Just needs to trust the reader more.

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Don't listen to the negative reviews. It's good.

Revisado: 02-22-22

It has been a been a while since I last listened to a HLH book, but I am not sure what pronunciations were wrong that some are complaining about. I guess I am not a big enough fan to notice, or it really doesn't matter because they are small and minor.

The story does not include Hank or Belvaille or the characters from the previous books (except Garm). As description implies. But it is part of the HLH universe. And it does have the same wit and humor. It is just delivered in a different way with a different narrator who was good. A female narrator to match the storyline. (Note - this book is told in third person about Garm, instead of the usual first person through Hank.) We are introduced to a new group of quirky characters and situations. It was a good mix of learning about Garm and the Quadrad and keeping the main storyline going.

If you like Steven Campbell's writing style and the characters of HLH, and the publisher's description appeals to you, then get the book. It is worth it. If you are super tied to Liam Owen's narration, and must have Hank in the story, then don't. But you'll miss a good edition to the HLH Universe.

Personally, I hope Campbell expands with more offshoots or continues this one about Garm.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Just good straightforward book.

Revisado: 06-27-20

It’s just right. Character development is natural. The authors uses the story to develop the characters without “telling” you how deep something is or how he wants you to view the character. You can make up your own mind.

There’s action, but it is purposeful and not mindless. There are some twists, but they’re not out of no where, and the author isn’t trying to show off how clever they can be.

It is just straight up good writing, story telling, and characters.

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